Movement Demands of Campus Students
This section will show movement patterns of NDSU students, to, from, and around campus. The survey results in this section tell how far students live from campus, where they are coming from, what time period they spend on campus, how they most often travel to campus, how many have access to motor vehicles, what determines their mode of travel and whether their mode changes in the winter. This information is helpful in determining what services can be offered that will fit into the normal movement activity of the student body.
Students live at various distances from campus (Figure 4.3). When dividing the respondents by gender, more male students live within a mile of campus than female. This may explain why a higher proportion of women responded to the survey than men. The overall response showed about 52.6 percent lived within two miles of campus.
Figure 4.3 Distance Students Live from Campus
Figure 4.4 Where Students Leave From Before Arriving on Campus
Even though about 75 percent of students are employed, almost 92 percent of the responding students are coming to campus from home, 4.72 percent are coming from work and the rest (3.5 percent) from other places. Evidently a large percentage of students work either at night or on days when they don't have class. For students arriving for afternoon classes, just over 12 percent are coming from work.
Figure 4.5 Times When Students are on Campus
The majority of responding students are on campus from 8 a.m. till noon (Figure 4.5). The 10 a.m. until noon time period is when the highest concentration of students is on campus. The 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. time period relates to normal classroom schedules, which are during the normal work day of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
NDSU students are very mobile, with 93.5 percent having access to motor vehicles (Figure 4.6). According to Independent Insurance Agents of America and College Parents of America, nearly 70 percent of college students have either their own or use of their parents' car at school. This means NDSU is well above the national average.
Figure 4.6 Students with Cars
The majority of students go to and from campus either once (two one-way trips) or twice a day (four one-way trips) (Figure 4.7). Twice as many students in upper-college class levels make two trips a day than students in lower college class levels. Whether they work on- or off-campus makes very little difference in trip frequency.
Figure 4.7 Number of One-Way Trips
Students who live on-campus were asked why they most often leave campus. Visiting family and friends, and general shopping are the two most common reasons (Figure 4.8). Not-employed students who work on campus most often leave to go shopping, while the students employed off campus most often leave to go to work.
Figure 4.8 Why On-Campus Students Leave
By far the majority of students either drive or walk to campus, probably in large numbers each day. About 10 percent of students ride a bicycle from time to time. Only 5.7 percent of students said they most often use the MAT bus when traveling to campus (Figure 4.9). When respondents were divided between living on and off campus, only 6.34 percent and 5.46 percent respectively indicated they use MAT services.
Figure 4.9 Studetns Mode of Travel to Campus
The survey asked the respondents to indicate how important the following factors were in deciding on their mode of travel: convenience, cost of vehicle, cost of parking, weather, parking availability and time element. Students clearly indicated that time and convenience are the two most important factors (Figure 4.10). The cost of parking and the cost of vehicles are the least important; however, the availability of parking has some influence on the decision-making process. The important factor here is that more than 90 percent of the respondents indicated that convenience is important in deciding what mode of transportation to use.
Figure 4.10 What Influences Mode of Travel
If a student has a car, he or she can travel any time of the year regardless of the outdoor temperature. However, if a student walks or rides a bicycle, the weather may influence the choice of mode. Results showed that 23.3 percent of the students choose their mode of travel because of weather (Figure 4.11). Considering only 12.8 percent of the student respondents indicated they use the bus, there appears to be a window of opportunity to address the transit needs of more students. It may not be realistic for transit to expect to be able to capture all of these students, but it does seem there is room for growth in ridership.
Figure 4.11 Weather Influences Mode of Travel in Winter
Students were asked how far is too far to walk to campus in differing temperatures. In above- freezing temperatures, the response was mixed between 1/4 mile to one mile (Figure 4.12). In below-freezing temperatures, the majority said 1/4 mile or less. North Dakota winters can be harsh, with 20- to 50-below-zero wind chills. These conditions make it difficult for anyone, even appropriately dressed for the cold, to walk or stand outside for an extended period walking to school or waiting for a bus.
Figure 4.12 Reasonable Walking Distance by Temperature
The survey has shown us some interesting facts about NDSU student movement activities. This data reveals 47.4 percent of students travel more than two miles to campus; almost 92 percent travel from their homes and they are on campus from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; 93.4 percent have access to vehicles; almost 45 percent of students make only one trip daily to campus and a majority prefer to drive. Convenience and time have a major influence in the decision on what mode of travel and approximately 23 percent change their mode of travel in the winter. The large percentage of students who have access to vehicles on campus is probably a negative for transit even though parking is a problem. Also, the large supply of parking slots and parking permits on campus encourage the use of the automobile and discourage the use of transit.